This picture was taken yesterday from Bear Mountain bridge. Just passed the bridge, the AT goes through the Trailside Museum and Zoo. It's a small zoo with only native species, but I've been kind of excited about it for days. We spend so much time in the woods that I look forward to anything out of the ordinary.

The night before this we hiked until 11 PM just for the promise of a 24-hour convenience store with soda and junk food. I would say we were drawn to this gas station paradise like our own kind of Mecca, but as I told Thumper, "Actually no, this will be so much better than Mecca. They have soda." I couldn't have been more right. They sold a damn-fine Philly cheesesteak sandwich and had the nicest gas station restroom in the state, hands down.

Since the zoo was about to close, we decided to go into town and see it in the morning. Plus town had beds and a shower, and as much as I love living in the woods, I was really looking forward to not smelling like a corn chip's foot anymore. That required two showers.